Jun 29

If you have ever been to the Philadelphia area, you know that we are known famously for a few food items, the soft pretzel being one of them. You can get one on any corner in Center City and there are various shops in the Tri-State area that specialize in them. My dad loves a good soft pretzel and I knew that I had to include them somehow in my Foodbuzz 24 x 24 party so I decided on some pretzel nuggets for an appetizer.

This was the one recipe that I was most nervous about preparing. I wasn’t quite sure if I was going to be able to pull them off. Turns out they were a lot easier to prepare than I thought they would be. The only thing that is a downfall would be that they are time-consuming. Rolling out the dough and then cutting them into bite size pieces, boiling them, and then baking them is where your time is dedicated to. I was so pleasantly surprised when I opened the oven door to these wonderfully golden brown pretzels, I may or may not have squealed. In my opinion, the end result was just perfect and the guests agreed.

Since my brother has made pretzels before he suggested boiling them for a little bit longer than the recipe had suggested to get the texture just right on the outside. I honestly can’t tell you how long I let them boil since I was all over the kitchen doing things, but I would definitely boil them for longer than 30 seconds to get the perfect outside. I served mine with the cheese sauce (recipe below), some regular yellow mustard, and then some homemade honey mustard.

What you’ll do:

For the Pretzels: Combine the water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring 22 inches and shape. Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make the pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches. We did about 15 bites at a time. Boil for about 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon. Place pretzel bites on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure they are not touching. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.

Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating. Serve with cheese sauce.

To make the cheese sauce:Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and cook until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the Cheddar cheese until smooth and all of the cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

7 Responses to Pretzel Nuggets

Yum. I love soft pretzels and also love to dunk things. In fact, I really really love to dunk things–I like lots of dip with each bite! I could probably go a little crazy with these. Thanks for sharing!

I’ve made these several times, and only today thought to take photos for my blog so I could credit your awesome recipe. It’s a pain in the butt with all the steps, but it’s SO worth it. We love to dunk theme in either cheese sauce or pizza sauce. My hubby will also top them with garlic chunks before baking. Thanks for sharing!